In 2016, the G20 Green Finance Study Group co-chaired by China and the UK developed seven recommendations on scaling up green finance, which were adopted by the G20 Leaders. Since then, more than 50 countries, regions and financial centers have launched their roadmaps and policy initiatives for greening their financial systems. Central banks and regulators from 29 countries/regions began to explore policy options to promote green finance through the NGFS, which has now become a global network for green finance policy discussion.
Economies including China, EU, and the UK, are at the forefront of establishing operational guidance, disclosure requirements, new products and incentives for green finance. Many other countries, including Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana from Africa, are also initiating green or sustainable finance roadmaps, and are attempting to explore the possibility of establishing a common green finance market in Africa.
While green finance will likely be a major driver for developing the green economy in Africa via mobilizing hundreds of billions of dollars for investment in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, as well as water and solid waste treatment, green finance remains a relatively new topic for many countries in Africa. Knowledge exchange and capacity building on this topic will help accelerate the pace for Africa to formulate an effective policy framework and develop the right products for green finance.
In response to this growing global demand for green finance knowledge, the Research Center for Green Finance Development at Tsinghua University (China) and the IFC-supported Sustainable Banking Network jointly initiated the Global Green Finance Leadership Program (GFLP) in 2018. The GFLP provides a global platform for knowledge sharing on green finance, with objectives to inspire innovation, scale up sustainable finance and facilitate the sustainable transformation of the global economy. The GFLP has hosted several global events since 2018 and attracted more than 250 participants from 48 countries, mostly developing economies, who were keen to learn from global experiences on green finance.
This Seminar is hosted by Casablanca Finance City and the GFLP, with support from Bank Al-Maghrib, Tsinghua PBCSF, UNEP, the UK BEIS, European Climate Foundation and Energy Foundation (China). This Seminar will focus on raising awareness of the importance of green finance, exchanging international experiences and best practices, discussing barriers and options for green finance development in Africa, and explore the possibility of launching a common African green finance (or green bond) market. It will convene 150-200 financial regulators, policy makers, senior members of financial institutions and other key stakeholders from the African region, as well as international experts from China, UK, EU and international organizations, with a view to inspiring and creating momentum for deepening green and sustainable finance development in Africa.
